Shalimar native killed in Afghanistan

Friends of Sam Hairston paid tribute on their Facebook pages to the Choctaw football standout, who was killed in Afghanistan Tuesday, Aug. 12.

Special to the Daily News

By WENDY VICTORA / Northwest Florida Daily News

Published: Thursday, August 21, 2014 at 02:04 PM.

The last time Daniel Jonke messaged his former teammate on Facebook, he thanked Sam Hairston for his service to this country and urged him to stay safe.

“I would give it all to make sure people like you get to enjoy the freedoms we all too often take for granted,” Hairston responded.

Tuesday, the 35-year-old Army Ranger gave it all in Afghanistan.

And friends like Jonke mourned as they considered a world without him.

“I just wish he didn’t mean it,” Jonke said, through tears, of his friend’s willingness to die for his country.

The Shalimar native was killed by small arms fire on the most recent of many deployments.

The 1997 Choctawhatchee High School graduate leaves behind his wife, Tawana, and step son, Hayden in Fayetteville, N.C.

His parents, Bernette and Josephine Hairston still live in Shalimar, where Sam attended local schools. He also has three brothers, Junnee Carbama, Broady Hairston and TJ Hairston.

As news spread, the community mourned his death, remembering a talented young athlete whose smile lit up the room.

“Sam, he was exceptional from Day No. 1,” said Jeremy Griffith, who played football with him in high school and college. “Everyone was drawn to Sam. Not only was he an unbelievable athlete, he was kind hearted about it.

“He would rip your face off and tell you how much he cared about you,” he added.

Sam played on the defensive line at Choctawhatchee High School as part of a team so close-knit that three of them went on to play at the same Division 1 college.

Coach Dean Vinson remembered Sam as an intense young man with an unforgettable smile. He called Sam part of the glue that held the team together.

“They did things you can’t coach and that’s called loving and caring about one other,” says Vinson, now athletic director at Bruner Middle School.

“They’re still just kids to me,” he added, breaking down. “They’re 35 years old, but they’re your players.”

After Sam graduated in 1997, he and two of his teammates – Griffith and Patrick Boatner – went to the University of Houston to continue their football careers.

Boatner said that Sam had wanted to follow his father and brother into the military, and that once he committed, he dedicated himself to success.

At the time of his death, he had reached the rank of Sgt. 1st Class and was a paratrooper and platoon sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Coaches and friends say the same outstanding work ethic that made him successful in school and sports helped him move up the ranks quickly in the military.

He reenlisted about three years ago, not long after he stood up at Boatner’s wedding.

He was recently married himself, happy, physically fit and in a good place spiritually, Boatner said.

There was no question about whether Sam was in the right field.

“You would thank him for serving his country and he was like, ‘This is what I wanted to do; you don’t have to thank me.’

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The last time Daniel Jonke messaged his former teammate on Facebook, he thanked Sam Hairston for his service to this country and urged him to stay safe.

“I would give it all to make sure people like you get to enjoy the freedoms we all too often take for granted,” Hairston responded.

Tuesday, the 35-year-old Army Ranger gave it all in Afghanistan.

And friends like Jonke mourned as they considered a world without him.

“I just wish he didn’t mean it,” Jonke said, through tears, of his friend’s willingness to die for his country.

The Shalimar native was killed by small arms fire on the most recent of many deployments.

The 1997 Choctawhatchee High School graduate leaves behind his wife, Tawana, and step son, Hayden in Fayetteville, N.C.

His parents, Bernette and Josephine Hairston still live in Shalimar, where Sam attended local schools. He also has three brothers, Junnee Carbama, Broady Hairston and TJ Hairston.

As news spread, the community mourned his death, remembering a talented young athlete whose smile lit up the room.

“Sam, he was exceptional from Day No. 1,” said Jeremy Griffith, who played football with him in high school and college. “Everyone was drawn to Sam. Not only was he an unbelievable athlete, he was kind hearted about it.

“He would rip your face off and tell you how much he cared about you,” he added.

Sam played on the defensive line at Choctawhatchee High School as part of a team so close-knit that three of them went on to play at the same Division 1 college.

Coach Dean Vinson remembered Sam as an intense young man with an unforgettable smile. He called Sam part of the glue that held the team together.

“They did things you can’t coach and that’s called loving and caring about one other,” says Vinson, now athletic director at Bruner Middle School.

“They’re still just kids to me,” he added, breaking down. “They’re 35 years old, but they’re your players.”

After Sam graduated in 1997, he and two of his teammates – Griffith and Patrick Boatner – went to the University of Houston to continue their football careers.

Boatner said that Sam had wanted to follow his father and brother into the military, and that once he committed, he dedicated himself to success.

At the time of his death, he had reached the rank of Sgt. 1st Class and was a paratrooper and platoon sergeant with the 82nd Airborne Division of Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Coaches and friends say the same outstanding work ethic that made him successful in school and sports helped him move up the ranks quickly in the military.

He reenlisted about three years ago, not long after he stood up at Boatner’s wedding.

He was recently married himself, happy, physically fit and in a good place spiritually, Boatner said.

There was no question about whether Sam was in the right field.

“You would thank him for serving his country and he was like, ‘This is what I wanted to do; you don’t have to thank me.’